Garou Corruption

Just like any creature Garou are susceptible to the Corruption of the Wyrm. Garou are innately spiritual beings and are incredibly in touch with the Umbra. This is usually a great boon for the Garou allowing them to draw upon the powers of the other realm, communicate with its spirits and cast their Gifts. It however also makes them susceptible to the corrupting powers of the Wyrm. Unlike Mortals Garou are part spirit and can be affected by cursed items and corrupted locations to a greater degree than those who possess no spark of spiritual talent. To compound this issue Garou are emotional creatures and experience them to a greater spectrum than most beings. This means when a Garou is happy his joy is infectious, when he suffers personal loss his grief is bottomless and when he is enraged his anger is apocalyptic. The Wyrm knows this and uses its agents to exploit this weakness waiting for the Garou to falter and fall into its embrace. Luckily Garou are also one of the few beings who can sense this corruption and possess the knowledge to cleanse themselves of corrupting influences. Still, on occasion, a Garou will fall fully to the corrupting influence of the Wyrm. Garou call this phenomena dancing the spiral, after their most hated foes the Black Spiral Dancers.   While a Garou can gain corruption in the traditional sense, with the storyteller setting up triggers and difficulties the Garou are somewhat unique in that sense. To begin with Garou have a Corruption Difficulty which should be used as the basic difficulty for any corruption test. Secondly Garou are not as heavily impacted by murder and death, they are after all part animal and are instinctually not as affected by the passing of others. This is why a Garou can kill an innocent without risking spiritual corruption, if they had been killed for the greater goal of preserving the world that is. Its best to think of Garou as warriors fighting a battle to save the planet, the death of dozens or even hundreds of Mortals can sometimes be simply considered a causality of such a conflict.   To help narrow down corruption tests roll them under the following circumstances:

• The Garou enters an area with a Level 3 Wyrm Aura.
• Using a Black Spiral Dancer Gift or a Wyrm based power.
• Killing an innocent Kinfolk or close friend.
• Using a Wyrm artefact.
• Entering into a pact with a Bane.
• Performing torture.
• Desecrating an area.
• Continuously devouring human flesh.
• Devouring Wyrm infected food.
• Continuously taking drugs.

Dancing the Spiral

  Apply the following affects to the Garou for each dot of Corruption he possess. The effects are culminative and are treated as symptoms, meaning when a dot of corruption is lost its effects are also reversed.   1 dot - Frustration: The Garou grows frustrated with events, the Litany, his packmates or a dozen other things. He losses a Virtue. If he does not possess one than he suffers a Lethal Point of damage to his Humanity tracker.
2 dots - Ambition: Either in his heart or in his mind the Garou decides that he will be self serving rather than follow the Litany. As far as he is concerned he is still a loyal warrior of Gaia and packmate. He begins to read forbidden lore, use cursed items and otherwise does whatever he can to succeed in his personal mission. The Wyrm begins to take notice and, unbeknownst to the Garou, grants it a portion of its power. The Garou gains a random (or storyteller assigned) Vice. If he already possess a Vice than he suffers a Lethal Point of Damage to his Humanity tracker. The Garou can use Black Spiral Gits up to level 1.
3 dots - False Guide: The Garous prayers or studies manifest a guide which (at least initially) masquerades as a nature or ancestral spirit. This is a false visage however as the guide is in actuality a Bane. They guide, whisper and council the Garou, providing him with forbidden knowledge and an a path to reach his ambitions. The Garou can use Black Spiral Gits up to level 2 and has a Level 1 Wyrm Aura. At this point the Garou can still be unaware that he is falling into the service of the Wyrm.
4 dots - Pilgrimage to Malefas: The Garou begins to obsessively look for an entrance to Malefas, he knows that his destiny awaits him there. The Banes surrounding him provide guidance and advice pushing him into an ever greater sense of urgency. The Garou losses any ability to speak to his ancestors or their avatars are otherwise subsumed by Banes (or the Garou simply trusts the Banes without doubt). The Garou can now take Black Spiral Gits up to Level 3, has a Level 2 Wyrm Aura and can no longer manifest his Tribal Gifts. At this point the Garou is aware his path leads to Malefas and he realized the Wyrm has its claws in him but, depending on his Vice, might still believe he is either doing the right thing or actually striking at the Wyrm itself.
5 dots - Dancing the Spiral: The Garou cannot actually gain a 5th dot of corruption unless he finds an entrance to the Black Spiral, a location in Malefas, the domain of the Wyrm. Once this portal is found however the Garou enters the Black Spiral and performs a Stamina + Survival (5) test. If the test is failed the Garou is killed by the Black Spiral. If the test is passed the Garou will remerge days, weeks or months later as a Black Spiral Dancer. Generate a random (or storyteller assigned) Deformity and Derangement. The character is now for all intense and purposes an NPC.